Researchers, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Birmingham, have now demonstrated that there is a particular pattern of brain activity that supports this reactivation process.

Sleep spindles, the short bursts of activity in the brain during sleep, are enhanced when memories are reactivated. This new study has also shown that the content of reactivated memories can be decoded at the time that spindles occur.

Neural processes

Dr Scott Cairney, from the University of York’s Department of Psychology, said: “We are quite certain that memories are reactivated in the brain during sleep, but we don’t know the neural processes that underpin this phenomenon.